Microsoft is adding a new feature specifically for admins who are in charge of their Teams systems for businesses and organizations. The new feature will allow them to pin Teams apps in meetings ahead of time.
In a blog post, Microsoft says many Teams customers requested this new feature to help improve how Teams apps are discovered and used by their employees. The post mentions that developers of Teams apps will have to make some changes to allow them to use “Static Tabs” as their extensibility component instead of “Configurable Tabs” so admins can pin them in meetings. Those developers can learn more about how to make those changes to the Teams apps at this Microsoft support page.
Microsoft says this new feature will allow both Teams admins and app developers to work together so that Teams users can quickly access those apps. It added:
For example, a tenant admin can now pin the sales CRM meeting app for all sales executives so that critical customer and competitor information is always available to executives during their calls with customers and leads. This is an extremely powerful tool that can help boost the adoption of critical apps within the organization and improve collaboration outcomes and productivity.
Teams admins will now be able to go into the Teams Admin Center and see a new Meeting Extensions section on the App Setup Policies page. This will allow them to pick the Teams apps that will be pinned in meetings. They will also have the option of making the pinned apps available for all members of their business or organization. Alternatively, they can limit the pinned apps to specific groups or even individuals. Users will see the pinned apps at the top of the meeting window. Only two apps will be visible, but users can access others by clicking on the "More" option.
Microsoft does note that this new feature is not available for channel meetings or for meetings that are made via templates.